9 Clever Things You Can Do with a Rubber Band

Rubber bands—those unassuming desk accessories—seem to multiply every time you turn around. If you’re like most people, you have a junk drawer and an office caddy full of these versatile little loops. And while surreptitiously shooting rubber bands across the room at your spouse might be fun and entertaining for a while, there are a lot of other, more practical things that you can do with these ubiquitous stretchy ovals. Here are just a few handy household uses for rubber bands.

Ditch The Drips

Try stretching a large rubber band around a paint can from top to bottom, so that it stretches across the middle of the open top. Use the rubber band as a paintbrush scraper so that excess paint drips back into the can, instead of leaving a mess along the outside of the can.

Wax Creative

Do your dinner parties end with you scraping candle wax from the tablecloth? Never again! Protect your table from candle drips by wrapping a large rubber band around the base of the candle. The band catches drips before they hit the table. Bonus: You can use a rubber band to keep a candle from wobbling in the candle holder.

Grip ‘N’ Go

If you have a mop, broom, rake, or shovel with a broken grip, use several wide rubber bands to create a comfortable and secure new handle. Simply wrap them around the end of the pole as far down as you normally hold the handle. Now, wave goodbye to blisters!

A Screw Loose

Stripped screws are no joy but you can work around them if you know what you're doing. To remove stripped screws, place a rubber band flat across the top of the screw head. Then, push a screwdriver over the rubber band, letting the rubber fill in the indentations in the screw head. Slowly and carefully turn your screwdriver counter-clockwise to remove the screw. You may need to reposition the rubber band several times if the screwdriver breaks through the rubber.

Faux Finish

Patterned paint rollers and stampers may be all the rage—but who needs them! By wrapping several rubber bands around an ordinary paint roller, you can create striking faux finishes of your own design. When you roll the paint onto the wall, a textured pattern remains, courtesy of the rubber bands.

Control Curious Kids

Childproofing the home is important with little ones running around—but attaching gadgets and gizmos to every surface of the house can really add up. Here's one affordable idea to keep in your back pocket: Tie rubber bands around kitchen cabinets knobs to create an effective toddler lock. Simply stretch thick rubber bands tightly between the cabinet knobs to lock them in place, and rest easy while the young one explores.

Cord Corral

Bring some order to the cord chaos behind your desk, entertainment center, or anywhere electrical cords get tangled. Wrap excess lengths of cord in rubber bands to keep them neat and tidy. Extra points if you color-code each rubber band to help you identify which cord belongs to which appliance.

At A Glance

Need a little extra paint for a quick DIY project? This simple trick will help you determine which leftover paint can can do the job simply by scanning the shelf. When you're done with your next paint job, mark the "full" line with a rubber band. Well, now aren't you the organizing pro?